Book Reviews Archive

The Book Review in Review

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The ethics of reviewing poetry have recently reemerged as a hot-button issue in the literary community. Many writers have discussed the efficacy and aims of the “negative” review—how and if it impacts poetry and its readership in general.

Book vs. Movie: Never Let Me Go

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Kazuo Ishiguro’s 2005 novel Never Let Me Go is both an unsettling allegory of systemic oppression, and an intimate portrait of three young people negotiating an impossible living situation. There’s a lot going on, both on the surface and beneath, and a reader couldn’t be faulted for thinking, “this

3 Chapbook Reviews: Beauties of the Web

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While publishing online can mean that a text is more easily widely circulated, the dedication that goes into presenting a chapbook online often goes unsung. For July, I read three e-chapbooks, and each of them had stunningly beautiful covers and design that enhanced the reading experience.

This Spring’s Must-Reads

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The warmer weather brings with it some of the best publications of the year, and here are four of our spring favorites. So Sad Today Melissa Broder March 15 Grand Central $15.99 Poet and Vice columnist Melissa Broder is undoubtedly one of the best essay stylists at work today.

The Best Books of the New Year

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Resolved to read more this year? These books are the best the new year has to offer. Your Heart is a Muscle the Size of a Fist Sunil Yapa Lee Boudreaux Books January 12 $26.00 In his novel about the heated 1999 WTO riots in Seattle, Sunil Yapa writes:

The Best Books for the End of 2015

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  Every year-end ought to be paired with a great book as the weather gets colder. Here’s a list of late fall’s best titles, so grab a copy for yourself and one for a friend, too. The Suicide of Claire Bishop Carmiel Banasky Dzanc Books September 15 $24.95 This

The Must-Reads of Late Summer

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We all know the best thing to take with you on a summer vacation is a good book. Here are this August’s must-reads, begging to be read poolside or in the shade. Dragonfish Vu Tran Norton, August 3 $26.95 In his debut novel, Writing Award winner Vu Tran writes

Review: THIS IS THE HOMELAND by Mary Hickman

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This Is the Homeland Mary Hickman Ahsahta Press, May 2015 80 pages $18.00 Buy book Mary Hickman’s first volume of poetry begins dazzlingly with “Joseph and Mary,” a poem carved out of Joyce’s Ulysses. Whether this was done by dramatic erasure or by mosaic-like re-arrangement of fragments is hard to

This Spring’s Must-Reads

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Spring is in the air, and good books are in our hearts! Read on for our picks for this spring’s best literary offerings.   Night At The Fiestas Kirstin Valdez Quade Norton, March 23 $26 Buy: book ∣ebook Kirstin Valdez Quade is one of the National Book Foundation’s 5-Under-35

When We Are Given a Feast of Flesh

How do I remember spaces? Bedrooms, beaches, backseats, bazaars. The time between dreams. Night. The no-man’s land of a twelve-hour flight. I remember the world as words. I spent my last few weeks in Delhi hunting for books. For relatives, for friends, but, finally, for my own sake: to